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It’s Time to Build

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Re: It’s Time to Build

#801

Post by KirinDave »

nickysielicki wrote: post #526
KirinDave wrote: post #167

I find this essay to be extremely frustrating, and a good example of the attitude I've personally witnessed Andreessen have in the few interactions I've had with him directly. > Is the problem capitalism? I’m with Nicholas Stern when he says that capitalism is how we take care of people we don’t know — all of these fields are highly lucrative already and should be prime stomping grounds for capitalist investment, goo…

> Hell, we're building grassroots infrastructure in my radio group because our capitalist-driven infrastructure is so antiquated we can't even do a software update to existing hardware without it taking 3 years and taking an entire flood warning system offline. Can you talk about this a bit? 73 de W9NLS edit: It's AREDN. Awesome!

Yeah, and other local areas that aren't geographically suited for connection to SF's net are starting to kick off their own nets. I expect we'll see a Half Moon Bay centric net in the next two years!

Re: It’s Time to Build

#803

Post by bigbob2 »

quietthrow wrote: post #313

Since you are reading why nations fail I would like to recommend a pairing. How democracies die by Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky. The central thesis here is parties are the gatekeepers of democracies and when they put party before nation they erode the democracy that eventually fails. More often it’s a slow degrade than a sudden spectacular collapse. The erosion paves way for leaders that are more “spectacular”…

Very convenient way for party insiders to justify coronation of their preferred candidates regardless of "benefit to the nation." This same line of "gatekeeper" reasoning is exactly what justifies polling locations being closed and reopened elsewhere without notifying voters, years-long revolving door media propaganda campaigns, and accusing everyone who disagrees of being a Russian asset. The Republicans and Democrats alike are guilty of such behavior.

I too believe Trump is a symptom, not from lack/failure of gatekeeping, but rather the act of gatekeeping itself. I think the general public is (subconsciously or not) aware that these party insiders view themselves as "gatekeepers" and are anxious to "stick it to them" even if it comes at their own demise. Whether or not you agree or disagree with them, the issue here is that their trust in what they viewed as democracy was already eroded. This is probably reflected through the terribly small number of working class voters who participate in the political process.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#804

Post by ovi256 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #708
pbourke wrote: post #620

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Key to their strategy was having deep enough pockets to fight many simultaneous legal and PR battles.

Which is enabled by VC funding, which IMO makes them complicit on a systemic level. It's arguable whether you can blame a particular investor for Uber's thoroughly rotten and antisocial business model - but once you see more of such startups getting funded left and right, it's fair to ask the question, "why such business model is even a possible option".

>rotten and antisocial business model

What's rotten and antisocial about providing cheap, reliable transportation ?

Re: It’s Time to Build

#805

Post by [deleted] »

jbkiv wrote: post #441
lookdangerous wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what you think about the necessity of the health insurance industry? Seeing as how apparently it began as a sort of subscription service to keep hospitals afloat when beds were empty... It is a lot to wrap my mind around, but I have the general feeling that insurance drives the prices of health care way up and we would be better if we could all pay out of pocket for most things, but be covered by a true 'ris…

Insurance companies are kind of a costco, they buy stuff in bulk , sell it retail, and manage to get a 5% margin. My humble opinion: the health care system in the US is totally screwed up and nobody wants to recognize that (except those paying maybe, and I am not even sure of that because they are conned into thinking "that we have the greatest healthcare system in the world"). Everybody is trying to pull the blanket…

[deleted]

Re: It’s Time to Build

#806

Post by TigeriusKirk »

KirinDave wrote: post #167

I find this essay to be extremely frustrating, and a good example of the attitude I've personally witnessed Andreessen have in the few interactions I've had with him directly. > Is the problem capitalism? I’m with Nicholas Stern when he says that capitalism is how we take care of people we don’t know — all of these fields are highly lucrative already and should be prime stomping grounds for capitalist investment, goo…

Maybe he's talking more to himself and his peers here.

By writing this down, he's committing himself publicly to a path, there's no reason to think he's not aware of that.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#807

Post by hawaiianbrah »

pc86 wrote: post #790
danimal88 wrote: post #784

I build tech enabled, innovative physical infrastructure solutions for buildings. People do want them. VCs, less so, unless it's as high margin as a photo sharing app, destructive and lucrative as consumable businesses like Kurig, etc. Consumers don't know what they want until the possibilities are presented to them. VCs are literally the gate keepers of much innovative possibilty at the early phases of enterprises.…

> I build tech enabled, innovative physical infrastructure solutions Can you explain what it is you do without copying and pasting a line from your pitch deck? This sentence could literally mean any of at least a dozen completely different things.

Yeah, that really is not enough for me to visualize what they meant.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#808

Post by m463 »

csallen wrote: post #135
oxymoron wrote: post #70

I'm in the process of reading _Why Nation Fails_. The central thesis is that the rich and poor countries are separated by inclusive vs extractive institutions. The extractive institutions are characterised by elites that attempt to defend their own wealth and status by maintaining the status quo and resisting the creative destruction that may threaten that position. It seems to resonate a bit here, when Marc speaks o…

> why not write simpler laws and regulations and leave it to the courts What incentives do lawmakers have to make laws simpler?

I thought the "remove two regulations to add one regulation" was an interesting hack.

Don't know if it's political rhetoric or even viable.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#809

Post by jekoeoe9njdjr »

sanderjd wrote: post #794
danimal88 wrote: post #784

I build tech enabled, innovative physical infrastructure solutions for buildings. People do want them. VCs, less so, unless it's as high margin as a photo sharing app, destructive and lucrative as consumable businesses like Kurig, etc. Consumers don't know what they want until the possibilities are presented to them. VCs are literally the gate keepers of much innovative possibilty at the early phases of enterprises.…

Yep, if anything good comes from this open letter it will be from people in his own demographic (investors) reading, internalizing, and acting on it.

I’d rather he cram this letter up his arse and lead by example with a letter announcing deep investment in infra

Otherwise this is just someone with the freedom to sit around rambling at length trying to look woke

The model of investing he got rich on is part of the problem

Is he actually going to change that or peddle warm fuzzies and never follow up?

Academia knows where the problems are

States know where the problems are

Pay taxes and they can get on it right away

What is it with rich guys who think they’ve suddenly figured out exactly what societies already well known problems are?

What is it with sycophantic men who kowtow to rich daddy types? The professional world I live in is pretty disgusting with its reverence for wealth stolen from workers who do the actual manual labor to enable his creature comforted up the arse life

Re: It’s Time to Build

#810

Post by brennanpeterson »

riazrizvi wrote: post #370
MR4D wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simple - politics is about control. Laws are a form of politics. Why would anyone give up control once they had acquired it?

100% it’s politics, it’s self-interest. The reason why we don’t have Musk’s Alien Dreadnought factories throughout the US is related to the reason Elizabeth I rejected weaving machines; the people who have power will not gain enough from it and may even lose. Elizabeth I feared the consequences of creative disruption on her constituents, and the knock on effect that might have had to her tenuous grip on power. Today…

Who would gain? Politicians try really hard to pull in facilities. Look at the GLobalFoundries spending debacle in NY. Or the Panasonic/Tesla battery facility in NV at, what 2m in grants per employee. Or Foxxcon in WI.

These facilities aren't that economically beneficial. Capital investors aren't, as PMA implies, stupid: they don't build because there isn't much money in it.

Politicians bend over backwards all the time. Massive subsidies are the problem, not lack of interest.

The reason people go elsewhere is to play regulatory arbitrage. To avoid the inspections, the pollution rules, and the long term environmental costs. The Bay area is filled with Superfund sites. Same for the Puget Sound, Boston Harbor, and the Hudson. No one should eat too many fish...because worlrdwide Mercury levels are high.

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